Movie Review

"Crooked Arrows" No Matter, Still Hits Target with Glimpse into American Indian Culture

Levi Rickert and Steve Mohan in Entertainment. Discussion »

American Indians introduced the world to lacrosse. Now the Onondaga Nation and several lacrosse companies introduce the sport to the big screen in "Crooked Arrows."

The full feature film opened nationwide last Friday.

Stand up and Cheer

"Crooked Arrows" stars Brandon Routh of "Superman Returns" fame as Joe Logan, a mixed blooded American Indian casino general manager looking to help expand the casino he works for by working out a deal for more land from his tribe. His father, a tribal councilman, agrees to give him more land for the casino if he can rediscover his spirit while coaching a losing high school lacrosse team.

The team learns from Joe Logan both on and off the field and they start being able to stay with the richer and better trained schools they come up against. Many of the team members were cast from local American Indian tribes and the authentic look helped the movie with believability.

While the film has been faulted for its predictable outcome by some film critics with its "underdog sports team makes good" theme, "Crooked Arrows" is a success because it has the opportunity to restore pride to Native youth throughout Indian Country. Furthermore, what do film critics know about American Indians anyway$

"Crooked Arrows" is the best American Indian full feature film since "Wind Talkers."

Seldom do movies about American Indians get nationwide releases. So that in itself allows "Crooked Arrows" to hit a target that has been too often ignored- American Indian culture.

"Crooked Arrows" also hits the target with Joe Logan's father admonishment to his son to "find his spirit." American Indians need to find their spirits as Native people. In modern society with all of its distractions, it is quite easy to lose out on the true meaning what it means to be Native.

For those skeptical about whether or not this movie is authentically Native, your fears will be appeased early on into the film. There is a mixture of traditional with the complexities of contemporary Native life, complete with an Indian casino.

"Crooked Arrows" will make American Indians want to stand up and cheer.

"Crooked Arrows" is a rated PG-13 for suggestive themes. The film runs for 105 minutes. The Robbie Robertson music on the soundtrack is an added plus.

posted June 6, 2012 9:40 am edt